Speaking at a workshop in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, Echono stated that the nearly 300 tertiary institutions receiving funding from TETFund have not been able to meet their contractual obligations.
Echono said the meeting was an opportunity for people to provide feedback on its interventions and give the agency a sense of how well these initiatives are working.
According to the TETFund boss, the 2023 intervention cycle will see each university receiving N1,154,732,133.00; Polytechnic – N699,344,867.00, while each College of Education would get N800,862,602.
His words: “I am pleased to inform you that Mr. President has approved the 2023 disbursement guidelines in the total sum of N320,345,040, 835. Based on this, each university shall get, for the Year 2023 intervention cycle, the total sum of N1,154,732,133.00.
“This comprises N954,732,123.00 as annual direct disbursement and N200 million as zonal intervention. Similarly, each Polytechnic shall get N699,344,867.00 comprising of N569,344,807.00 as annual direct disbursement and N130million as zonal intervention, while each College of education shall get N800,862,602 comprising of N670,862,602.00 as annual direct disbursement and N130million as zonal intervention...
Echono also said that the fortunes of Nigeria's tertiary education sector have improved significantly since Buhari became president in 2015, the total sum of N1.702 trillion has been disbursed as education tax collection to public universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education compared to a total sum of N1.249trillion disbursed from the inception of the Fund in 1993 up to 2014 (21 years).
Echono also urged Buhari, as a parting gift to the education sector, to grant his assent for Finance Bill 2023. This bill provides for an increase in the tax on earned income that supports public education—from 2.5% up to 3%.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, the Federal Ministry of Education, David Adejo, urged the beneficiary institutions to use the intervention judiciously, saying that the country is no longer looking for paper presentations but what one can do with his brain and hands.
